Next up is Facebook’s Beacon. Matt Dickman does an excellent job breaking down what Beacon is and why it matters to marketers. I had been noticing this when somehow magically Facebook posted some recipes from epicurious.com. I didn’t notice it at first, but then it got kind of creepy. The Idea Shower (which I’m adding this blog to a regular reading list) does a great job explaining the situations behind Beacon and privacy issues.

Thing is, I agree with what these post share. Facebook is kind of overstepping its bounds for my taste. The ad guy in me wants data shared, really. But within good taste. On top of that, while I like Facebook, it really just doesn’t do it for me. I’m glad its there, but I kind of want to keep it at arms reach. I mean, I like being able to keep up with my friends. But…I kind of like being able to disappear from the social scenes every now and then as well.

Herb — Glad you liked the post. It’s a very fine line here for marketers. We have to remember that no matter how good the data on our end, it’s value that we have to bring to the user first and foremost. If there is value, the data will come.